Monthly returns (consistency)

The formula

Each month's P&L ÷ starting capital, in %.

How to read it

Your steadiness month after month. Consistency beats one big isolated month.

Count the positive months instead of adding them up. A method producing eight green months out of twelve is repeatable; one producing three lives off timing you do not control. That is precisely the criterion prop firms call the consistency rule, capping how much of the total gain a single day may represent.

The classic mistake

Judging a single month. A month is short: with thirty or so trades, chance still weighs more than method. A red month after five green ones calls for no correction, it is what the distribution makes likely.